The Comparsa of giants and bigheads

On August 28, 1982, the San Miguel Youth Teleclub association met to discuss the festivities of that year, which were then in September. Among other topics, they discussed buying a pair of giants to accompany the three bigheads that are still with us: the Pamplonica, the Navarrica, and the Clown. They took it upon themselves to call and request a budget from the Aragonese factory of festive giants in Zaragoza. During the festivities of that same year, they came out for the first time on September 29, the day of San Miguel, the patron saint of Larraga. They were baptized by the town hall with the names Juan de Albret and Catalina de Foix, as they were significant kings of Navarre for Larraga, granting the title of Buena Villa and the current coat of arms on April 23, 1507. In the early years, until the comparsa was founded in 1992, the husbands of the women on the board of the San Miguel Youth Teleclub association were responsible for carrying the giants.

This association was in charge of bringing out and maintaining the giants and bigheads until the comparsa was created in 1992. This idea came from two people who had recently arrived in the town and committed to restoring and taking care of the figures. In the early years, the comparsa and the association that had bought the figures years earlier, the San Miguel Youth Teleclub association, worked together. Over time, the comparsa relied more on the town hall until the official association Comparsa de Gigantes y Cabezudos Villa de Larraga was created in 2016.

Returning to the origins of the comparsa in 1992, it was time to start the project that these two people took on with enthusiasm, and whose beginning was complicated. First, they fully restored and repainted the heads of the giants, which had deteriorated after ten years of use. Once the giants were restored, it was time to bring them out, and for this, they asked friends from other towns who already knew how to dance, such as Barañain and Puente la Reina, for help. They not only came to dance but also taught everyone in the town interested in handling the giants.

They supported the Larraga comparsa until there were enough people in the comparsa to manage on their own, though they have always been willing to lend a hand. The year after the comparsa’s creation, a group of people from the San Miguel Youth Teleclub association made new costumes for the giants, which were debuted at the giants’ gathering in Barañain in June 1993. This outing was the first of many for the giants outside of Larraga.

In 1999, a new shirt was made for the Pamplonica and the Clown, changing from blue to pink, commissioned by the San Miguel Youth Teleclub association.

In 2007, the comparsa thought it was time to make new costumes, as the previous ones were very worn out. The wooden frames were also repaired, and the hands and faces of the giants were touched up. The bigheads also underwent a complete restoration of their faces, and new costumes were made for them.

In 2010, Aitor Calleja completely restored the faces of the giants and built fiberglass bodies, replacing the previous papier-mâché ones.

In 2011, members of the comparsa and their friends decided to completely repaint the three bigheads.

In 2013, the comparsa noticed that many young people felt too old for the bigheads but too young for the giants, causing them to leave the comparsa. They decided to create two small giants for these young people. With the help of the town hall, they commissioned comparsa member Imanol Urabayen, who, along with his friend Christian Azcona, shaped the small giants, Tartalo and Aker, both based on Navarrese mythology.

The comparsa saw that younger children in the town were increasingly interested in joining, but the Clown, Pamplonica, and Navarrica were a bit too big for them. So, in 2015, they decided to commission two cadet bigheads from the company Eskuartean Imaginería Festiva. They thought two soldiers would fit well in the comparsa, serving as the guards of Juan de Albret and Catalina de Foix. Thus, a day before the August 2015 festivities, Drago and Velimir were presented.

Their success was so great that the comparsa commissioned another cadet bighead from Eskuartean Imaginería Festiva, slightly larger than the previous two but smaller than the original three. Since the kings already had their guards, all that was missing was a jester to complete the court, so the harlequin was presented in 2016.

In 2019, the comparsa decided to retire their pair of large giants and create two new ones that were personalized, lighter, more comfortable to carry, and made with modern materials. The previous ones would still be used in processions and important local events. They would continue to represent the same characters, Juan de Albret and Catalina de Foix. With the help of the town hall, the figures were commissioned from Eskuartean Imaginería Festiva, and the costumes from Fermín Teruel.

In 2020, all the bigheads were taken to Eskuartean Imaginería Festiva for annual repairs. As news, it was decided to take the Pamplonica and Navarrica as well, as the former had a deteriorated structure preventing it from being used for years, and the latter was quite damaged after a blow, something normal with use.

In 2023, it was decided to restore the old giants with the intention of making them lighter. As it was a very costly restoration, it was decided to do it in phases, the first being the most urgent due to the state of the queen’s head. A contract was signed with Eskuartean Imaginería Festiva to make fiberglass replicas of these giants’ heads by September 2024.